L plates and tantrums….

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1025/roadsafety.html

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1026/roadsafety.html 

Oh my god, like, how dare they!? Actually try to implement the law of this country? I mean, loike, how am I supposed to get to work?

Sorry children, but your inability to drive safely and the numbers in which you die on the roads have led to the world’s maddest driving regulations loophole finally being closed. Damn you, it’s your own fault. The rest of managed to drive on 2nd provisionals for years without the government giving a rat’s ass but ye, in yer souped up hairdresser’s Porsche’s and road rage and boy racer mentality – ye’ve spoilt it for the rest.

One of the stranger days here in Dublin with people bitching about the law finally ebing implemented – for example it has always been illegal to drive on a 1st or 3rd  provisional licence without a qualified driver with you. And if that qualified driver is drunk, you are not covered. The only difference in real terms is that 2nd provisional licence holders can’t drive unaccompanied. So why the furore? Because now they’ll check. Now they’ll pull over every L driver on their own in a car. And hopefully take them off the damn motorway. So all those idiots breaking the law and causing carnage on our roads will be forced to pay some attention to the body of legislation governing road usage. That will be a shock for most.

So stop bitching about the law being implemented and start being ashamed of yourselves for breaking it in the first place! All the tut tutting over road deaths and the one positive step to reduce them meets with vicious opposition! 

PS students wondering how to get to college please take note. There are these big thing’s called buses…. 

Arm the rabbits..

Many years ago I worked somewhere that sold hunting equipment including guns and ammunition. I often was asked to serve hunters on their way to slaughter a few dozen bunnies and it really annoyed me. Not that I am against hunting for food but I am against hunting for mindless amusement; and most of these guys were walking definitions of mindless. I wouldn’t have trusted them with a BB gun let alone a shotgun and the idea that they were out enjoying themselves willynilly around the mountains made me rural-phobic for years.

I used to say “arm the rabbits, make a fair fight of it,” and I wish now to invoke that phrase again. Except, ladies and gentlemen, we are the Rabbits. 

 Vicious muggings are now so normal that they are not newsworthy. It take s a really shocking crime, like shooting an unarmed Garda in the stomach on a weekday morning, to even shake our acceptance of the way things are now. Killers serve laughable sentences and “low level” crime is now a phrase extended beyond any sensible meaning to include anythign where you don’t actually die while being robbed/assaulted/raped.

Report a burglary? of course but only to get a number you can give the insurance. If the Gardaí actually rang you up to say they found the little bastard and they’ll be going on trial for thrashing your gaff and stealing your hard earned cash, you’d faint, now wouldn’t you? And it’s not their fault – kid yourselves not, the Gardaí work hard and are conscientious but our law system is a joke.Judges are arrogant, incompetent, and out of touch with both reality and the needs of society. Add into this the greed and corruption at the heart of the system and we have a lovely picture of the legal processes of this country.

Criminals have more rights than we do,  judges talk about “reconstructing” the lives of convicted child killers and the victim has a few pathetic rights that are now under further threat from a system resentful of anyone having a say who doesn’t wear a wig and a gown. Parents watch their children’s murderers do exams from jail and be welcomed back into the communities that tried to cover up for them and old men and women live in fear of groups that can’t be touched because they have special rights.

So I say never mind arming the gamekeepers, arm the rabbits.

Anniversary and Alcohol

Yesterday was the First Anniversary of the day I met Mr BB; one year ago yesterday I met this nice man in  coffee shop and now he’s stuck with me for ever. So we did the romantic thing last night, went back to the place we met for dinner and went for a drink in Brooks afterwards. I had about three glasses of wine and am paying for it today – I was ill all morning and now feel merely horrible. It’s a great improvement. And I am in work.

 I have been forced to accept the unthinkable - I am too old to drink properly anymore. This is the girl who used to drink a bottle of wine before leaving the house to go dancing. And three poxy glasses have me reduced to a gibbering wreck. It’s all downhill from here.

So, Saturday in town with a hangover is not to be recommended. I hate the shiny happy clean people enjoying their Saturday shopping. I yearn, with a true and pure love, for my bed. But Mr BB not only drove me to work this morning, he bought me breakfast in Gerry’s (which i could barely eat, the waste of it!) and nursed me til I could stand upright.

How can I be so hungover on sooooo little? And I can’t even say “it was a bad pint…” “the wine must have been corked” doesn’t really cut it! But you will all be happy to hear it was a wonderful night, one of the happiest ever.

Time flies….

Six months from yesterday, will be my wedding! I spend most of yesterday feeling very soppy and sentimental. And to cap it today my invitation proofs came from the wondrous Turtlegnome Carfts in the UK. Gina is a mate and the full bent of her talent was turned to making our invitations – they are perfect. I want the right now, but of course I can’t have ‘em. There’s the little matter of a 130 odd to make by hand, and evening invitations too. But I can take out my proofs and stare at them. Yes I am sad.

 Mr BB was also enthralled by them; it’s a very concrete moment, holding your wedding invitations in your hand and visualizing your friends’ names, in neat calligraphy (hah!) asking them to attend the union of two separate souls.

 Six months ago we made a series of plans, about changing jobs, getting engaged, moving in together, planning a wedding – and we’ve achieved them. We are exactly where we planned to be. And it’s been amazing fun, wonderful and joyful. Now we are on the final stretch so to speak; the six month run up to the wedding itself. I have to do lists, budgets (and again, hah!) and guest lists; we have contacts and suppliers, venues and favours, dresses and suits. We also have an appointment to view the bridal suite in our hotel on Sunday…oooo errrr matron.

So, the countdown begins – 6 months to go!